Carefully Orchestrated Fates
by Ravelyin
Summary: [AU/Villain Deku] "The gods watched as he grabbed the wrong pants, setting a series of events into motion that would alter the course of history and cause the unraveling of carefully orchestrated fates." What happens if All Might never drops the Sludge Villain?
1. 1: The Butterfly Effect

So, this is my first MHA fic ever and my first fic in many many years. Please be kind. If I know myself at all this might get daarrrkkkk. I'm really trying to get back into writing so any tips, suggestions, critiques, and encouragement are very very welcome. I hope you like it!

The gods watched as he grabbed the wrong pants, setting a series of events into motion that would alter the course of history and cause the unraveling of carefully orchestrated fates.

 **-1-**

 _This kid is insane._ All-Might thought to himself as the young quirkless kid stood before him. He had to sit here and talk to him, he'd seen his deflated form and deserved an explanation. And what was with this kid, anyway? He really wanted to be a hero without a quirk? It was unrealistic, dangerous, reckless, and…. Definitely something that was his absolute responsibility to be honest about. Before he knew it, he was speaking candidly, "...Some villains just can't be beaten without powers. So, no, I honestly don't think you could become a hero without a quirk."

 _Shit I was too harsh._ The kid looked crushed and All Might did his best to soothe over the hit with some words of comfort. It likely didn't help much, but he wouldn't be able to live with himself if he'd told the kid to go for it and he got himself killed. Which he definitely would, being the type to impulsively grab people who are about to soar through the air at intense speeds.

"Now, let's get you to the station," He chuckled to himself as he checked the bottle the villain had been held within.

 _Perfectly secure, thank goodness for the deep pockets in this pair of pants or the kid may have knocked it out when he latched would have been a disaster._

Izuku Midoriya had just had his entire world shattered. Some part of him had always known that it was a hopeless dream. Albeit and all consuming one. He'd have to be completely insane to have not known, literally every single person he had ever met told him as such. Yet somehow he found himself standing in front of the Symbol of Peace asking the stupidest question ever. Of course he'd never be a hero. Of course he'd never get into UA. How had he let himself get to deluded?

His walk home was uneventful save for this pit of crushing emptiness growing within his chest. He wondered casually if this was akin to heartbreak and the thought made him shudder. _Never again,_ he thought as he lay in his bed surrounded by a shrine of delusion that seemed to be mocking him.

Inko Midoriya wasn't the type to pry on her son. He was a very good boy and never caused her any trouble. He seemed to cry a lot, but she'd assumed that was because he was a very sensitive boy who got rotten lot in life and accepted it with unbelievable optimism. He was always kind, sweet, and fairly happy. That's why what happened that night caught her completely off guard.

 **CRASH**. The loud sound made Inko jump and tighten. Adrenaline coursing through her as she sprinted toward her sons' room. _Please just be safe. Please. Please._ She pleaded with herself as she nearly kicked his door down and froze in shock. Her mild mannered sweet son was in a fit of animalistic rage it seemed. His eyes seemed feral with anger and tears as he ripped posters, action figures, books, and other assorted memorabilia off his walls and into heaps on the floor. She thought she should most definitely do something to help him in this moment, but a part of her was scared to move a muscle. She'd never seen Izuku like this, he seemed like a completely different person.

 _Oh no,_ She thought, _He finally realized it's never happening._

 _Worthless._

 _Helpless._

 _Useless._

There are supposed to be five stages of grief. It was known and well documented to be the case, if you are into that sort of thing. Izuku Midoriya had not experienced these five stages. He had experienced two of them in rapid succession for a little over a year now. Anger and depression. Those two emotions were likely the only two he'd truly felt in these months since his encounter with All Might. The anger causing random rants that would likely rival those of Kac- Nope. Izuku doesn't think about _him._ The rage he feels when he thinks of his old 'friend' makes his blood turn cold.

 _Kacchan wins the sports festival, acts like a damned maniac?! Kacchan is the hero? How?! How do they accept him He's a monster! A monster..._ The thoughts circle and circle endlessly, seemingly getting louder, and more resentful, and more and more hateful.

On average people used to say three things about Izuku Midoriya. They would say he was quirkless, he was very very kind, and that he was completely obsessed with quirks. Through his newfound rage and depression two of those things had most definitely remained true. He was assuredly still quirkless and if possible he'd grown even more obsessed with quirks. His anxiety diminished any remaining social skills and the boy spent most of his time filling notebook after notebook full of information on every quirk he possibly could while rarely speaking to anyone.

And then Katsuki Bakugo came home for a visit.


	2. 2: Watching

_Hey all, thanks for reading! I'm not sure why the story was marked as complete, but I have fixed it i believe and it will for sure be ongoing. I cannot commit to any kind of schedule for now, as I am still trying to get my groove back writing, but I am happy to hear any comments/_ _critiques_ _or ideas to keep me going! This is a lot of fun and I'm having a blast pondering the butterfly effect of things that would happen if Izuku never went to UA High. I'll be adding an OC to the next chapter, another fate that was unwound by not getting stopped that day on the street by the_ _inconvenience_ _of the sludge monster. I have no intention to climb aboard any ships for now, though I have a couple of ideas of how some ships could eventually end up in the mix. Uhhhh thats all I guess. Hope you like Chapter 2!_

 **-2-**

 _About 14 months earlier._

"And what was his name again?" The gray haired man asked as he glanced toward the target they'd been observing for days. _This one could be useful,_ her thought as he watched the villain prepare for his rampage.

"Hedoro Viran." The other man replied in his typical gentlemanly sort of tone. Things were starting to fall into place, just like Sensei had told them. It wouldn't be long before the school year at UA was to start, and the real work would begin. Right now was about recruitment of men and quirks that would be useful for the wars ahead.

"Poor Kid," The gray haired one said flatly as the focus of their observation was trying to force itself down the throat of a young green haired boy. Hedoro was panicking, that much was obvious. Which was a shame, he'd really wanted to see the man in action. There were rumors that he could activate someone's quirk for them if he could latch onto their body in his sludge state. It was what they'd come here to see. Sensei would enjoy having control of something like that for sure. But why hadn't he activated the green haired kids quirk at least once? Didn't he know that he was being observed? "Kurogiri, he does know we were watching today?"

"He does." The other man answered while still watching as their potential recruit continued his rampage, "But All Might is coming, we may need to get out of here." He shifted his gaze over to his associate - boss. Kurogiri liked Shigaraki well enough, though he was less of a leader and more of a petulant child at times. And Sensei had faith in him, though it seemed wavering at times. Almost like if he had it to do over maybe he'd have chosen someone else. Regardless, of one thing he was sure Sensei loved Shigaraki in his own way. If anyone could whip this brat into a great villain it would be him.

"You're probably right." Shigaraki answered seemingly upset. He knew he needed to remove himself from the situation before All Might arrived, but he didn't want to. It wasn't like the #1 Hero would recognize him anyway, he was in his normal clothes and he hadn't made his villain debut yet. He had to wait for the start of term at UA for that. His mole had let him know that All Might would be teaching at the school this year and that would be the stage for this war. He knew most battles in this age were about PR. He had to destroy faith in the hero system before they made any further moves. No, he needed to see this. He needed to see his rival All Might in action if watching this man Hedoro was simply just a waste of time. "I want to watch the fight."

"Okay, but we should move back a few roofs over." Kurogiri used one of his black mislike appendages to gesture over toward the north where there were many flat roofs within eye line but a bit further from the action. Sensei would not be amused if there was any sort of confrontation between Tomura Shigaraki and All Might before he'd planned it. Yep, that was likely why Kurogiri himself had been tasked as Shigarakis' number 2, Sensei knew that few would be able to keep that boy under control. It was truly an honor to be trusted with such a task.

"Fine." Tomura seemed to groan the word instead of speak it. He didn't like having to hide. He wanted to fight All Might right now and get his revenge. He'd been rejected and left alone for so many years. Everyone who walked passed the starving boy averted their eyes and waited for a hero to save him. That hero came eventually and society called him a villain. And that was exactly how he knew that the world was broken. Sensei was better than all those so called heroes. Sensei saved him.

The two gentlemen moved further away from the scene as All Might came in and made easy work of Hedoro. _Well that was anticlimactic,_ Tomura thought as they turned to walk away. They'd come all this was to scout this villain due to the rumors about him, yet he did almost nothing of note and was captured and held in what looked like a soda bottle. All Might wasn't phased one bit by the man who was supposed to be so powerful that few heroes could stop him. What a crock. He even sat down and took the time to sign the notebook of the green haired kid who was now shouting some kind of fan boy nonsense at his hero. He hated kids like that. Why would anyone want to be a hero?

Before he vanished into the warp portal, Kurogiri made a small noise that made him stop and look at his partner, "What?" Tomura asked.

"The kid grabbed All Might as he flew off, I thought for a second he might knock the bottle out of his pocket and we'd be able to retrieve it." His tone seemed disappointed and also mildly amused.

"The kid grabbed him?" Shigaraki turned to watch as the kid flew through the air right toward them attached to the leg of the Pro Hero. He chucked. "All Might looks mad."

"Yeah, want to watch?" Kurogiri asked while closing the portal and moving himself further out of sight. He definitely looked like a villain and wouldn't want to be seen.

"I do." Shigaraki said with a grin.

"Wow," Kurogiri said quietly to himself as All Might probably disappeared down the stairs toward the ground. They couldn't see what had happened between the hero and the kid, and they hadn't heard all of it. But they heard enough.

"He destroyed that kid." Tomura said mostly to himself. Just as he thought, this so called hero wasn't fit to save anyone. The harshness of the reality check he served the quirkless green haired kid was a pleasure to behold. The true face of a hero. There was nothing but fame and glory and destruction from those heroes and this was further proof indeed. Before he teleported back to their bar, Shigaraki stole one last look into the eyes of the defeated child. Those eyes reminded him of someone.

 _Present Day._

"Izuku?" There was a light knocking on his door and he knew it was his mother again. She'd been doing this more often lately walking on eggshells every time he was anywhere near her son. He was about tired of it. Did she really think he'd ever hurt her? Kacchan maybe, but he wasn't the type to hurt people. Not on purpose. The walls of his room continued to lay bare, all evidence of the cheerful fan boy had long since been burned in the backyard of his tiny home. He still remembered the stench of burning plastic that seemed to linger on his skin for weeks as if it was some kind of badge of his new identity.

The door creaked open and Inko sheepishly entered. She was the same sweet, sad woman and yet right now there was some kind of desperation in her eyes. They seemed to be pleading and yelling at him simultaneously as she looked at him pouring over another notebook of scribblings she could no longer read. _He used to have gorgeous handwriting,_ She thought to herself as she glanced down at the hardly legible scratches on the notebook closest to her. Was this even Japanese? It seemed like some kind of shorthand. He'd certainly had the time to develop it. God she was so worried about him. That was why she needed to make him do anything other than this.

"Hey Mom," Izuku said flatly, "Did you need something?"

"Yes. Uh-Izuku I need you to do a favor for me."

"Okay." His voice still monotone and emotionless.

"Katsuki is back in town," She waited for a reaction from her son but there was none, "And his mother is very busy with everything so I volunteered to bring some food over."

Izuku knew where this was going.

"I thought… Maybe you could go drop it off? I still have a lot going on here."

She looked like she was wincing, waiting for him to freak out of beg her not to make him. Or give her any sort of reaction whatsoever, but he just sat there blankly and nodded.

"Yeah, do you need me to do it now?" There was something in his eyes as he spoke that scared her, he was so calm and collected. She wished he would start yelling again. At least when he was yelling she knew he could still feel something. This was much much worse. Maybe Katsuki would do what he does best and rile her son up a bit. At least when he was delusionally trying to be a hero and rival to the boy he had some kind of personality. He barely spoke now and hadn't seemed to even be angry since right after the sports festival. That was a bad one.

"Yes, please. Thank you so much Izuku." Her voice was sweet and hopeful. Like if she just spoke enough kind words to him that he would suddenly wake up and be better. No, there wasn't a miracle fix for all of his problems and Izuku knew it. A cold emptiness had swept over him since the sports festival that his long time bully had won. He'd come to terms with the fact that he'd never become a hero, but watching that horrible horrible person excel at it was the final straw to his sanity. Heroes weren't the good guys, if that was true then he would be a hero and Kacchan would be a villain. It was actually pretty simple for Izuku's mind to comprehend when put in those logical statements.

 _If the heroes are the bad guys, then what does that make the villains?_

Tomura Shigaraki and his associate watched the small house from across the road a ways. There was nothing exciting or unique about the students' home which surprised him. He figured a kid of such rage and power would definitely come from a home on one of the extremes. He was either an entitled little rich kid, or a scrappy little street thug. Katsuki Bakugo was neither. His home was almost obnoxiously ordinary and though most people found him to be a little shit, almost all the people they'd spoken to had said the same thing. This kid was built for greatness. Tomura didn't see greatness in the kid, but what they did see was a fire and passion that may be able to be controlled. Yeah, this was the kid they wanted to capture from the school. A final nail in the coffin of their ridiculous social hierarchy and status quo. Their number one student kidnapped from the school and turned into a villain? The media would lose their minds and he couldn't wait.

"Are you ready to return?" Kurogiri asked him. There was no rush or concern in his voice, he asked as if simply reminding his leader that it was an option. He knew the importance of this scouting mission. They needed to learn everything that could be used to turn the kid. Oh it would truly be glorious to behold the looks on the faces of the heroes as they learned of the news.

"Not yet," Shigaraki stated. They'd already learned a lot. The kid would be taking an internship with the number 4 hero, Best Jeanist. That would be where they could watch him next, but Tomura had a feeling they needed to keep watching today. In his gut he knew something was going to happen today.

"Remember that quirkless kid from last year? The one All Might crushed the dreams of?" Kurogiri asked.

"Why do you ask?" Shigaraki asked having definitely not forgotten that boy. Something in his eyes that day had lingered in his mind over this last year. He'd convinced himself that it was just another reason to hate All Might and the heroes, but deep down he knew there was more to it. He could relate to that kid in a lot of ways.

"Isn't that him walking to the targets house?"

Tomura looked in the direction that his partner had gestured and sure enough he'd know that ridiculous hair from where it was burned into his memory. What was that kid doing here? He looked like he was carrying a casserole dish and walking to the targets house. And those eyes looked even darker than they had when he's first seen them, nearly black with emptiness. He knew the look well.

"Curious," Tomura Shigaraki grinned as if this was fate.

-End-

Chapter 3 as early as later tonight. We shall see!


	3. 3: Showdown

**I didn't get it done last night, but here is the next chapter! This one got me pretty hyped to keep going, I think the next one will be quite a bit longer. It would be a safe bet to check back in a few days for the next installment. Thanks everyone for all the support so far! I really appreciate it and every review keeps me going.**

 **-3-**

Izuku navigated the path to the house he'd gone to many times in his life without much of a thought. This left his mind to contemplate this new feeling he was experiencing. Was it happiness? No, he was sure that emotion didn't feel like this. There was something about this feeling that made him feel comforted. What was it?

As he rounded the corner approaching his old friends home, Izuku paused for a second feeling uneasy. Was he being watched? He took a second to scan the area and saw nothing out of order. Maybe it was nerves, even he didn't know how he would react when he saw Kacchan again. Let alone if that arrogant ass said anything to antagonize him. Even if he stood up to the boy there wouldn't be much that he could do to win a fight, though he did know from experience that Kacchan likes to start a fight with a huge right hook. If he were to leverage that properly and get a leg up on him then it would be possible to end the fight in his favor.

He cut off his train of thought as he saw the people outside the front of the house. It seemed to be some kind of congratulatory party for Kacchan and there were quite a few familiar faces in the crowd. _Okay, just find Mrs. Bakugo and get out as quickly as possible._ He thought to himself as he looked for the woman amongst the group. There she was near the middle by the front door of the house. _Shit._ Kacchan was standing right next to her, the same expression he'd grown to detest over all this time. He was laughing with a girl from his class, two of his little followers, and a woman who looked to be maybe twenty with long black hair. He braced himself by taking a deep breath before turning to enter the yard.

The assorted students from his class that saw him walking up held faces of...What was that fear? Anticipation? He wasn't sure, but it was strange. Izuku knew his mission. All he had to do was approach them, hand over the casserole, muster up some sort of congratulations, and then leave. Back to the blissful silence of his bedroom and all of his notes.

Yep. That was all he had to do.

Asola Seikiko fumbled once again with her bags as they slid off her shoulder and roughly onto the crease of her elbow with a clunk that nearly caused her to drop the items in her hands. _I should have taken two trips._ She groaned knowing that she would have never done that. As she struggled to readjust without going through the logical act of setting down the things in her hands she noticed a strange shadow up ahead. _What is that?_ She jumped a step to the left so the thing couldn't see her and watched. It looked like a person made out of a shadow, and it moved seemingly without any outside influences on it. It was standing at the garage of a house up ahead on the street. It seemed to be looking across the the road, but she couldn't be sure. _Is he made of dark matter?_ A shot of fear jolted through her and she calmed herself with words of encouragement, if she got too scared her quirk would activate and scare the hell out of everyone who saw her. _It's the middle of the day in a decent neighborhood. Everything is fine. Calm down._

All she had to do was drop off the supplies to her bosses' sons party and head off to her house. Why did she agree to do this? She mused it was probably because that sweet little man always came off so helpless to her. That was why she was so shocked to find out what his son acted like. How was he so aggressive and loud? He was nothing like his kind quiet father. That great man who gave her a job and didn't treat her badly because of her quirk. He was pretty much the only one, everyone else treated her much differently after seeing what her quirk looked like. Yep, that was why she would do nearly anything for him.

The shadow shifted again and revealed a man behind it. _Ba-dump._ She watched the man looking between the shadow and whatever they were observing and her breath caught. There was something about him, though she could barely see his face between his longish hair and hood pulled up over his head but she could feel something. Something ridiculous. She made a move to walk toward him but stopped herself. What was she doing? What were they up to here? This was nonsense. She cant go approaching strangers in their backyards to say what even? There was no point in going over there. They were probably just discussing fence heights or whatever people who lived so domestically talked about. She would not go judging people by their appearances and thinking their villains because they are different. Nope. That was what people did to _her_. She took a moment to regain her composure before making her way toward the house she was meant to go to. That business with the shadow and the gray haired man were none of hers.

Asola made quick work setting up the decorations and hung around the house a while to enjoy the party at her boss' request. How was he not embarrassed at his wife and sons behavior? They ranted and raved at eachother like insane people. Constantly berating and attacking each other verbally. And there he sat between them, kind and sweet, quietly asking them to get along. It was insanity. She wouldn't be staying long, she'd never planned to. And something kept making her eye gaze over to the house that she knew the man had been standing behind. She was relieved that she couldn't actually see him from here, lest she look like a creepy stalker. Which she was kind of behaving as. There was no reason to have any sort of feelings for a person she had never actually met. Or heard speak. Or even seen properly. _I must be pathetically lonely,_ She thought. It's about time to leave for sure.

"Deku, what are you doing here?" Kacchan bit in his normal way as Izuku approached with the dish. His mother preformed her usual routine of slapping him on the back of the head and calling him a jerk or a demon or whatever. Then Kacchan gave his usual shut up old hag routine and they bickered loudly for about six seconds before remembering that they were doing something. Izuku didn't move nor did his facial expression change once. As soon as they quieted he answered their question by gesturing the casserole dish toward the mother. She took it in her hands immediately and thanked Izuku with some long story about how helpful his mother was and how kind it was of him to deliver it. Izuku nodded and told her it was no big deal, all the while Kacchan seemed to be fuming.

"Later, Kacchan." Izuku said casually while turning to leave. Kacchan exploded at the subtle dismissal.

"Come on, Deku! You're not going to say anything? Thought you were going go to UA and be a hero? Finally realize you're a quirkless loser?"

He knew he was being baited. And it should be making him feel angry or sad or something, but Izuku felt nothing. Nothing but a calming rage that had been in the pit of his chest ever since he saw Kacchan win the sports festival. He cracked a smile turning back halfway to talk over his shoulder.

"Yeah, you were right. I should have listened to you sooner. How foolish to have dreams of being a hero." He continued to make his way back home.

"So you don't want to hear what All Might has to say about my quirk?" Kacchan shouted in a last attempt to coax him.

That stopped him and anger flared within him, he turned and pulled his best impression of his old self "Yeah I'd love to hear all about it Kacchan!"

Kacchan jumped a bit as if that was definitely not the reaction he'd wanted.

"What did you expect him to say, Deku? He obviously thinks my quirk is amazing and I have all the talent needed to be the next number 1 hero, also -" He stopped suddenly at the expression on Izukus' face. He was shaking with what seemed like rage. _This is new,_ he thought. "Aww, Deku you mad that your idol loves me so much?"

"No, I don't give a shit what All Might has to say about you Kacchan, you're-"

Tomura and Kurogiri watched the confrontation with looks of minor shock. They weren't sure what exactly was said to get him going but the quirkless kid erupted into a loud tirade that they unfortunately only got to hear bits and pieces of. He wished he could step closer and hear more but they had to stay hidden. This kid hated heroes like they did. The kid finally finished screaming long enough to try to turn and leave before the target jumped toward him with a huge right hook. Quirkless took the opportunity to flip him over and slam him on the ground. The kid went to kick him in the head, but the target blasted him with his quirk. Then quirkless flew backward into a girl with long black hair.

That was when things ramped up.

Tomura watched the girl get knocked down and slam her head on a table that was set up with food on it. The table flipped and food flew onto the yard. The targets mother went to run and help the girl who had fallen but her husband grabbed he hand and started speaking frantically to everyone around them. He started pulling his wife toward the house while some of the other bystanders backed away from the injured woman. He glanced at Kurogiri who was intently focused and hadn't noticed his gaze. The black haired girl was suddenly surrounded by black wisps that almost looked like tentacles that were thrashing around frantically at anything near her. Her eyes had turned a bright red color as dark veins ran from her eyes down her cheeks. She screeched loudly and the tentacles continued to thrash against the remains of the table and the foliage around her. One of the tentacles slashed Quirkless, who was using the commotion to escape the scene. His left arm ripped open with seemingly no resistance as he ran past and jumped into the neighbors yard out of her reach.

A few seconds later the tentacles calmed and disappeared while returning the girl to her normal appearance. She had a look of horror on her face as she seemingly pleaded and apologized to everyone. The targets father and mother seemed to forgive her, but Tomura recognized the looks on the faces of the others. He'd seen those looks before. The girl ran away in the same direction as quirkless and in that moment Tomura Shigaraki had a quick decision to make.

"I need to see more of that quirk."


	4. 4: Analysis

**Well GreaterGrell you needed more and so did I! So I kept writing and stayed up until I could complete another chapter. Things are finally starting to come together. A little bit of OOC behavior, but its unavoidable I suppose. Anyone else feeling this ship? Asola was not originally going to catch any feels but while poking around I got sad that Shigaraki doesn't get enough love. Probably another chapter tomorrow! Enjoy.**

 **-4-**

Abject horror. Yes, this situation had to be the precise definition of the phrase. Asola straightened herself and looked around at the damage she had caused with a look of terror and sorrow on her face. _This is worse than if it had just activated._ She thought as she mustered the courage to look her boss in the eye. As she expected those kind eyes were sorrowful. Shit, this would be easier if he was an asshole, but he was so kind to her. _Time to find another job I guess._ It would be hell trying to find one, but she had to go now. Some of these witnesses were clients of his and she knew that her presence would definitely mess things up for him now. And that wasn't including the fact that she'd wrecked his sons party and a huge portion of their front yard. She should have just left immediately. Why did she stay? Where was she going to work now? There weren't many options left for her that paid enough to make a decent living. And she couldn't rick college or a hero academy with a quirk like hers. If only she'd gotten a bit more in savings this time. How was she going to make a living? She didn't even really have any friends or family to lean on.

A full possession. That was the worse case scenario for her quirk, it only happened if she became knocked unconscious or was in horrifying pain as far as she knew, and though she wasn't sure what it looked like she could remember the reactions of everyone who'd ever seen it. _Horror_. As she held back tears, Asola did her best to apologize to everyone before bolting off after the child she'd hurt. Right before she ran away Asola stole another glance at the house she'd been looking at the entire afternoon. _Ba-dump._ She could see the face of the gray haired man poking out a bit from the shrubbery in his backyard. He saw her. She ran.

It would have been hard to track the kid if he hadn't left a trail of blood scattered along the neighbors yard back through the adjoining houses yards to a cross street she didn't recognize. _Where'd he go?_ She had to find the kid an apologize. Maybe call an ambulance, there was a lot of blood on the ground. _Should have just gone home._ She continued to berate herself until she passed a small alleyway and saw the small green haired kid leaned against the wall holding his arm and panting.

"Uh- D-Deku?" That was his name, right? She thought she'd heard Katsuki call him that earlier before his breakdown. Poor kid. Being quirkless was arguably worse than what she was going through. She couldn't imagine the discrimination.

"That's not my name." His words had a lot of bite and she wasn't sure how to respond.

"I'm sorry. I - I didn't mean to hurt you. I-I-If I get knocked unconscious it just happens. Like defense protocol or something." The kids hard expression faded a bit and he looked over at her with a spark of curiosity.

"So that's more like a special move? What's your actual quirk like?" She blushed in embarrassment.

"Uh.. Can I bandage your arm? It's the least I can do, and I have stuff here in my backpack." She moved to unzip her bag and move toward the boy with the gauze in her hand. He just continued to stare at her as if letting her know that would not be the end of this conversation.

"Okay." He held his arm out and the girl made quick work of cleaning and wrapping it.

"I don't think you'll need stitches, but I'll give you my card and if you do I'll happily pay. This is my fault."

"It's not." He interrupted, "I started that fight. I let him get to me again."

She narrowed her eyes at him curiously, "He always like that to you?"

"He's pure evil." He stated as plainly as fact and then immediately perked up a bit while pulling a notebook and pen out of his jacket and looking at her with those dead scary eyes, "So about your quirk."

"What's with the notebook?" She chuckled and moved closer to him to peek. It was mostly illegible but she got the gist. It was probably filled to the brim with notes on quirks. Such a strange obsession for a quirkless kid. _Or the only one,_ she mused.

"I like to study as much as I can about quirks. I have tons of these notebooks on all the pro-heroes, villains I've heard of, all the students at UA who participated in the sports festival, most of the people who do those quirk blogs online. I need to learn as much as I can about as many as I can to develop strategies to-" He cut himself off and looked at her. She got the feeling it had been a long time since he was comfortable enough to talk to someone like this. He cocked a sly little smile and held out his arm, "Isn't it the least you could do?"

 _This kid is good._ Asola laughed internally and supposed she had been bested by this kid. But they were standing in an alley atop a puddle of blood and she was covered in cake and food while he looked lightly toasted and all his clothes were torn to shreds.

"Alright, deal. I'll give up the goods and give you a full rundown of what I know my quirk can do." She smiled a bit. _I must be lonely to want to hang out with this kid. "_ But, both look very beaten down and creepy in this alley and I'm not trying to deal with the police today. Are you on break from school?"

"Yeah." The kid replied

"Okay, how about I give you my address and we both go home and get cleaned up. Then I'll have you over for tea and a proper demonstration? I'd prefer not too many people see me with my quirk activated. Especially now that I need to find a new job." She didn't mean to let that slip. Oh well, apparently her and the quirkless kid were going to hang out. And to be honest she didn't hate the idea. He had some interesting ideals and she wanted to hear more.

Izuku was about to agree to this girls terms. Everything she said was logical and made sense until he thought of walking into his house in this condition. He had worried his mother enough for the day. Best to leave her to think he was off having a good time with his 'friend.' "No," Izuku stated plainly, "I don't want to go home right now." Her face was priceless. She looked at him for a moment and then broke into a small chuckle. What was that? Understanding. Almost like she knew exactly where he was coming from. He remembered, "New job?"

"Well, either way we need to get out of this alley." Her eyes shifted around nervously, dismissing his asking about her job. _Probably slipped._ She stood staring at him for a moment lost in thought before she seemed to droop her shoulders in resignation and speak. "I live a block that way, you can come to my house. I guess I owe you." She smiled and it was warm. He wasn't used to this sort of treatment outside of his mother and a few people who likely had to be kind. Was he really going to go to a girls apartment? Why did she look so nervous? He wondered if she also felt like they were being watched.

"Okay." He straightened and took a step closer to her, deciding to let the matter with her job go. It wasn't his business anyway.

Kurogiri and Tomura listened to the exchange between the two new targets from behind one of the houses lining the alleyway. _The kid keeps notebooks on quirks and strategies….to what end?_ Tomura thought to himself as he watched. It was clear that the boy could be very useful from an information standpoint. In this case he was doing all the work for them, finding out more about that girls quirk. He hadn't decided how or if they should approach the two, and Kurogiri had suggested they go talk to Sensei about it. _I can't rely on him for everything. I have to prove I'm worthy to succeed him._ Does one simply walk up and ask if they are okay? Apparently.

"Hey!" Tomura said while rounding the corner to address the two targets. Kurogiri stood frozen in shock that the boy had just walked over there and begun speaking. It was quite out of character for him. He decided to hang back as his looks attract a lot of attention. He was here should he be needed and he would provide nothing but support for his leader.

"I saw what happened back there, just wanted to be sure you two were okay?" His leader almost sounded like a normal guy. Though his voice was still a bit strained, he seemed to be able to push enough force into it that he sounded more like he had a bit of a sore throat than the way it normally sounded. Kurogiri couldn't see anything from behind the house, but continued to listen in case anything went wrong. What was Shigaraki thinking right now?

"I'm fine" Quirkless said

"W-W-We're okay, thank you sir." Kurogiri could actually hear the woman bow when she spoke. Her voice was much shakier than before, it was possible Shigaraki made her nervous. He braced himself preparing for the worst.

 _Ba-Dump._ The gray haired man was looking right at her. Though as he was closer to her she could now see that it wasn't just gray, but that it had hints of blue through it like an ombre. His eyes were pale with bits of red and he had a deliberate gaze. His face looked so tired tired. Why was he here? She looked at the kid, he didn't seem at all interested in carrying on these pleasantries so the burden fell on her. Racking her mind to remember how to be a normal person she instinctively stepped forward and smiled, holding out her hand.

"Hi! I'm Asola Seikeiko, thank you again for checking on us." His eyes shot to the ground where the pool of blood was still quite visible. She looked down sad about to pull her hand back. Of course he wouldn't want to touch her, he'd just seen her do that.

The man grabbed her hand gently before she could pull it away and gave the back of her hand a light peck, "It's a pleasure. I'm Tomura Shigaraki." He released her hand and looked at the kid.

"Midoriya." The boy didn't even look up from his notebook and just continued to write whatever he was writing in it.

Kurogiri was not the type to burst into laughter. But if he had, this would be one of those times. Was Tomura Shigaraki actually trying to _charm_ this girl? This was so far out of character that he wasn't sure that he wouldn't start laughing hysterically at any minute. This simply wasn't a thing that happened. He had seen his leader take many approaches to problem solving, but this was a new one. He wished he could poke his head around the corner and see it for himself, but alas he would stand out far too much. What was Shigarakis' plan here? He couldn't imagine what the end game could be.

"You did a good job bandaging him up. Are you sure you don't need to go to the hospital?" Tomua asked still playing his concerned citizen character.

"I'm fine." Midoriya repeated, seemingly irritated.

The girl -Asola- shifted her eyes to the kid for a moment as if she was about to scold him before realizing he was a stranger and looked back it him. Was she blushing? He must be imagining it. There was one goal here, he needed to find out more about that quirk so that he could tell Sensei about it. What happened after that would be out of his hands. She wouldn't keep eye contact with him and kept messing with her hair. He assumed she must be feeling anxious knowing he'd seen her quirk. The looks those people gave her must be burned into her memory. The ones who had looked at him that way were, and that was many years ago. Did he feel bad for her? _Curious_.

"...a-a-and it doesn't look like he needs stitches so, it should be fine." Her yellow eyes met his and she looked away quickly. Women were strange. Tomura took a deep breath, this act alreading wearing on his nerves.

"Well I'm glad you're both okay." He gave his best attempt at a warm smile to the girl and then looked at Midoriya once more to focus on the intense note taking. The boy had a one track mind, he'd love to see those notes.

"Thank you, Shigaraki" Asola smiled at the man standing in front of her. _He is so kind_. Midoriya was writing furiously in his notebook and from where she was standing it looked like it was about her. She was almost completely taken in by watching the kids focus when Shigaraki spoke again.

"I'm sorry if I'm overstepping, but I overheard that you may need a new job?"


	5. 5: Alley

**Something is better than nothing.. Its my birthday so probably no chapter until tomorrow!**

-5-

The gods watched in horror as the two who should have never met made physical contact, causing further unraveling. This was not good.

Asola felt her heart stop. This kind man had overheard her predicament and was seemingly trying to help her out a bit. This was not his problem. She couldn't take advantage of the kindness he was offering her. _He's concerned about me_ , she thought as she eyed the small wrinkle between his eyebrows making his expression look more pained than it had before. _He can probably relate to me_ , she thought as she realized she'd neglected to answer him. She tried to wave her hand dismissively but found that it was still shaking. Ever since he'd kissed it. The realization made her voice come out with much less confidence than intended.

"Yeah, well unfortunately I performed that fantastic display at my bosses' sons party. Its It's pretty safe to assume I should look for new employment," She realized her voice hadn't come off as casually as she had hoped and continued trying to smooth it over, "Though he hasn't said anything yet…"

Midoriya looked up at her words for a second before continuing go write in his notebook with a wrinkle forming between his eyebrows as well. She hoped he didn't feel guilty, this wasn't his fault. She had quite a talent for ruining her own life, no need to place blame elsewhere. Shigaraki hadn't stopped looking at her and she was beginning to wonder what he was thinking about. He seemed to be calculating something, or rather trying to figure out what he was going to say next.

 _I should probably show empathy_ , Tomura thought to himself before answering the woman. He needed to find a way to either get in touch with Midoriya or the woman after they left this alleyway. From this conversation it seemed like it would be an easier option to gather the female first and continue to watch the kid until the perfect moment showed up to get those notes from him. The best way to get this anxious looking girl to keep in touch with him would be from her thinking she had the chance at a job with him. Yes, this was the only logical option for now. He braced himself to continue with his ruse, worried his irritation was beginning to show through.

"I own a bar." He spat out tactlessly. _Shit_. "Also, I'm sorry that happened to you. You didn't do anything to deserve it. We could use a part timer. Wouldn't be much but it could hold you over." His worry that he didn't portray proper kindness was quickly quelled when he saw the elated smile on the girls face. It changed her appearance quite a lot from how she looked a moment ago. Her yellow eyes seemed to catch the sun and glisten making her entire face sparkle with happiness. It made him uncomfortable and he squirmed a bit where he stood.

"Wow., really?" Asola beamed at her savior, "I actually do have a bit of experience working in a bar, but I was only an assistant…" She trailed off a bit. This was ridiculous, this man didn't really want her to work with him. She let her face fall back to a more defeated sort of look and contemplated reality. How long would it be before she put another nice man in another horrible situation? No, it would be better if she stayed away from any kind of customer facing job. "...I don't want to be a burden on you, Sir. You have been so kind to us."

"Nonsense!" He said to her and then lowered his voice a little bit, "I know what you're worried about and you shouldn't be, you may find yourself fitting in quite well with my little group of misfits." Holy crap his smile seemed more sinister when he said that, but she shook it off. Her nerves must be completely shot. She looked over at Midoriya who seemed to be done taking notes and was impatiently tapping his pen on his notebook quietly behind her. Okay she needed to stop flirting and finish making all this up to the kid. Then she would worry about how she was going to survive after.

Alright, this was getting annoying. Izuku did not want to stand here and wait while this weird people comradery flirting whatever was happening. He wanted to figure out what was going on with that girls quirk and then go back home and be with his notes. He needed to properly decompress after seeing Kacchan and this situation was on his last nerve. He'd begun tapping his pen on his notebook, hoping the girl would catch his drift and move this along. She was too shy and nervous, Shigaraki was too passive and didn't know how to push. He knew he could move this along fairly quickly if he just got involved. Izuku straightened himself up off the fence he was leaned against and make direct eye contact with the man. "Why don't you exchange email so we can get going?"

That got things moving. The guy fumbled to write down his email and the girl fumbled to take it. Then they awkwardly said goodbye to each other, and finally they were making some progress. Asola watched Shigaraki walk back the way he came, returning to behind the house he emerged from behind before turning back to him.

"I'm sorry," she said, "Thank you for being so patient."

"Yeah it's fine. Ready to go?"

"Oh, yeah, o-of course! I do owe you." She laughed awkwardly at him and started walking in the direction she had pointed to when saying where she lived, "Are you hungry?"

After he replied the girl hopped on the phone and placed a delivery order for what he assumed was her apartment. As they walked up the way he was sure everyone they passed was staring at them. He knew exactly why they were staring, who wouldn't look at the two people who looked like they just got out of some strange food and fire accident. Not to mention that his entire sleeve was covered in blood, even if it was rolled up that fact was quite obvious.

After cutting through a yard they reached the footgate of a small apartment complex. It was not a nice place to live but it also wasn't the worse he'd seen by far. She seemed to take a deep breath as she typed in the access code and the thing swung open. There were a few people scattered on the random benches of the courtyard and most of them looked to be of high school or early college age. It was likely the reason the place had a run down sort of feel to it, cheap student housing tended to have that kind of feel to it. Every single person in the courtyard was staring at the girl as she walked past and murmuring to themselves. This was different than the stares before, these reminded him of the look of mobbing villagers in old movies. They hated her.

"It's ok, we're almost there." She said as she walked hesitantly past all of the onlookers and shot him a very not reassuring look that tried so hard to be and stopped dead as she turned the corner, "Uhh… Maybe we could go somewhere else?"

Izuku was puzzled until he turned the corner behind her. Along the line of about ten apartment doors he knew exactly which one was hers from here, it was the one that was plastered with graffiti and had garbage thrown on the ground in front of it. He couldn't make out all of the stuff that had been put there, but he could tell the paint was pretty fresh at a glance.

MOVE VILLAIN FREAK

GET OUT TRASH

LEAVE!

The girl took a step back and ran into him. He stayed still and put his hand on her shoulder as an attempt to comfort her, at least people didn't do stuff like this to him. This was brutal. He watched her drop the hand that had her keys in it and sigh deeply. She was holding back tears.

"I'm sorry, someone was supposed to do something about this earlier." Her head dropped and he saw a tear run down her cheek. What was he supposed to do to help her?

"It's fine," He shot a look back at the assorted people in the courtyard. A few of them were staring and laughing amongst themselves. That's why they were watching her so intently. "Let's get inside and I'll help you take care of this after we eat."

He decided it may be best to not bring up her quirk yet. She may need a minute.

Tomura strode back to his number two feeling pretty proud of himself. Kurogiri acknowledged his presence but made no further comment, much to his surprise. He almost wished his friend would say something, let him know how he did. Which was strange, he never wanted any kind of reassurance from the man before, but he was feeling anxious. Was it about the girl?

"We should follow and wait until we know where the both of them live." Tomura said mostly to himself, "Just in case she doesn't email me." He said even more to himself.

Kurogiri simply nodded and created them a portal to higher ground. Now that Shigaraki had made contact with the targets they needed to be more careful.


	6. 6: Discrimination

**And I'm back with another chapter. This one is a bit rushed, but not nearly as badly as the last one. I'll go back and fix some of the grammar issues in the last chapter later tonight. Thats what I get for posting at 3am after binge nerding all day. Hope you enjoy and cant wait to hear if you like it.**

 **-6-**

The inside of the small apartment was very clean and well organized despite what the outside of it may suggest. The girl didn't have much in the way of possessions, but it seemed to be enough. She had a small bed over in the far left corner, a small kitchenette over to the right near the front door, and in the middle area was a small square dining table that was littered with neat piles of paper and folders. She obviously used this table as both a desk and a dining table so Izuku made his way over and sat at the table in a spot where he could still face Asola. She made quick work of setting down her bag and walking to the restroom before shutting herself inside. The sink ran for a bit too long and he could hear her sniffle from time to time. _I know how you feel,_ Izuku thought to himself as he looked at one of the stacks in front of him.

The two top pieces of paper were just junk mail, but underneath he saw a stack of file folders each in a deep forest green color. He flipped the first in the stack open and the first page was a scan of a police report Asola had filed for harassment against a man named Shirou Kozeki. The next page was a restraining order filed against the same man. The rest of the pages in the folder were assorted court papers detailing some series of events he didn't have the time to read through. He quietly flipped open the other four files in the stack and found similar documents filed against a different person in each folder.

It was worse than he thought and he was surprised to learn that maybe this girl actually had to deal with more prejudice than he had suffered. The thoughts were like a shock of realization to his system and his mind began to race before being interrupted by a light hesitant knocking on the front door.

Asola rushed out of the bathroom and retrieved the delivery. She sat the bagged food down on the table and began rummaging through the cabinets to get plates and teacups. Izuku watched the girl with sad eyes as she prepared them both a plate and some tea before throwing a wash towel casually to him. Her sadness disappeared as her mask came back into view with a smile and light chuckle.

"You look like hell, go wash up and I'll finish setting the table." She gestured toward the bathroom and Izuku followed her orders. The bathroom was nice and it smelled like girl which made his young heart flutter a bit. The walls and countertop were clean of all items save for a toothbrush and a small prescription bottle at the side of the sink. _I'm in a girls apartment,_ the thought dawned on him and he blushed slightly before looking into the mirror at his face. His arm bumped the bottle and it fell over, sending the contents to fall along the counter. He scooped them back into the bottle and tried to return the lid but noticed it wouldn't fit properly. The bottle was warped slightly like it had been squished or maybe stepped on. He decided to leave it be and placed the lid back on the top loosely before cleaning off his face with the wash rag. God, his face really was a metaphor for the way his life had been going lately. He'd gone completely off the rails lately, hadn't he? His mother was so worried about him and had he really attacked Kacchan earlier? Thinking of the moment he wondered if he really would've brought his boot down on Kacchans' head had he not reacted in time. The thought sent a chill through him.

The worst part of his mental state was that he didn't really care much that he'd gone so far from who he used to be. It actually felt pretty good to be this free from the ignorance he'd lived in so long. Meeting this girl was further proof that the world was broken and that the heroes were to blame. She was kind and soft spoken, yet she was obviously being horribly harassed because he quirk was weird. All this because the Pro Heroes had caused such a fear in the citizens of 'villains.' But this girl was no villain and she was a victim to their witch hunt. Izuku felt that he alone could see the world for what it truly was, and it was his responsibility to find a way to do something about it.

After cleaning himself up a bit Izuku returned to the table and ate his food. The two didn't say much during the meal, Izuku had a feeling the girl knew he peeked at her papers and was waiting on pins and needles for him to ask about it. He was more concerned with getting her to open up about her quirk. He needed the unfiltered truth from her about it. He'd never seen a quirk quite like it before. He finished his food much more quickly than Asola had and pushed his plate over to the side, pulled out his notebook, and began twirling his pen between his fingers. _How do I approach this,_ he wondered for a moment before speaking.

"What do you call your quirk?" His voice was clinical in tone which seemed to set her at ease. He'd guessed as much, a straight talk Q&A was the best way to get her to open up. That and maybe a glass of sake. He eyed the bottle on the counter and grinned.

"It's called Dark Matter." She stated plainly between bites of her steamed bun.

"Why do you call it that?" He questioned as he took a few seconds to write down her answer. The girl immediately tensed and started breathing more erratically. He gave her a reassuring pat on the arm, "It's okay, you aren't scaring me off."

"Well, that's what it told me to call it."

Katsuki Bakugou couldn't sleep. This was very strange because he always seemed to sleep like a baby. Especially now because he was one of the top students at UA and his life really could not be going any better. It was pretty typical of his mind to simply let go of all of his thoughts and rock him into peaceful relaxation. But not tonight. Thoughts keep swarming and violently attacking his peace. Anxieties and worry crept into his being and kept his mind at wander. Why though? His life was without a doubt amazing. He still had some lingering rage about the way the sports festival turned out, even though he beat Icyhot in the final round the victory felt empty knowing the boy refused to fight him at full power. Again Deku crept into his thoughts. He had never seen the kid act like that before. And that look on his face was darker than the time he'd burned the boys notebook and told him to take a swan dive off a tall building. _Maybe you'll get a quirk in your next life,_ his old words haunted him. It was definitely not one of his finest moments, but he couldn't dwell on the past. Or get into why that cold look in Dekus' eyes as he considered using his boot to cave in his head a few hours ago was still haunting him. Yeah, that look was the real issue. Surely Deku wouldn't have actually done that to him, but those eyes said yes he would and the thought sent a chill down his spine. Whoever that was, it wasn't Deku. Not anymore.

Hours of thinking passed by before rocking Katsuki out of consciousness. As he slept he dreamth of darkness, emptiness, and those dead green eyes. All the while being taunted by childlike laughter.

"I've been watching you, young man." All Might said to the student before him, "You did very well in the Sports Festival this year. And on top of that your teachers all have wonderful things to say about your drive and sense of justice. It's a shame you've been left to general studies instead of the hero course."

The student seemed suddenly full of both pride and sorrow. He was very aware of his circumstances. All Might seemed to be studying him though, so he kept his sadness at bay.

"I've been speaking with Professor Aizawa and we both agree it's time to move you out of general studies and into the hero course."

The students' breath caught in his chest and he looked as though he may burst into tears at any moment. _Good,_ All Might thought as he looked at the boy and felt his second hand joy.

"Thank you, Sir. You won't regret it, I promise!" The boy said in between bows before All Might set a hand on his shoulder and he stood up looking confused. The tone changed instantly to a more serious one, all the jovial tone in All Might's voice was gone in an instant as he lowered his gaze to the kid to ask one last question.

"There is also something else I think you would be perfect for. But it will require a lot of training and hard work. It could also be very dangerous." The question was implied and the Pro Hero waiting for the boy to answer while hoping his tone made the kid understand the severity of what he was being asked.

"Anything to be a better hero, Sir." The boy responded.

"Excellent!" All Might jumped in excitement at the boys answer, "We shall start your training immediately!"

All Might was always a sucker for an underdog.


	7. 7: Aftermath

**How does the school and the world react when a student starts showing signs of a new quirk all together? These are the questions that I'll need to find answers to before I go too deep into the All Might and Successor situation. If anyone want to shoot me a pm with what they thing would happen it could help a lot. Trying to think about the classroom dynamics of 1A without Midoriya is also proving to be difficult. Would Kacchan have more friends if Deku wasn't there? Would Iida still be class rep? Which person from class 1B would be in 1A now that there's an extra spot open. Not going to lie, kids, these thoughts are stressing me out. Review/Msg me if you have any ideas it'll help a ton. Hope you enjoy the chapter and I love you or whatever. Thanks for reading.**

 **-7-**

 _I can't believe I'm actually enjoying this,_ Asola thought to herself as she took a moment to catch her breath. It had been many years since she'd played with the limits of her quirk, let alone show it to anyone intentionally. Her head was starting to pound from the stress her quirk caused on her body and her vision was starting to blur from all the fragments of dark matter left in the air after her last flurry of attacks, but she was so happy. Midoriya seemed happy too. His face had brightened up a lot since they'd started talking about her quirk, she wondered if she was having so much fun simply because he seemed to be as well. It would be hell to clean up all the ash spread around her apartment after this, but it was all worth it. She was going to have a lot of free time soon anyway.

"Want to take a break?" Izuku questioned as he blew some ash off of his notebook, "We are ruining your house."

The girl burst into laughter that seemed a bit hysterical to Izuku and came back over to sit down. Her eyes had returned to normal and he checked his watch to mark the time. _About four seconds,_ he thought as he marked down the time in his notebook. Her quirk was something to behold for sure. Not as flashy as when he saw it in Kacchans' yard, but she'd already explained that was something she had absolutely no control over. Though when she did have control of her quirk it was still really cool to watch. She could have been an amazing hero if her eyes and face didn't look like that when she used it, not that there was any value to being a hero these days in his opinion.

She called it dark matter, whatever the stuff she used to attack was and she'd explained that she pulled it out of the air around them. When she pulled it out of the air it solidified into black shards that reminded him of shined obsidian stones which burst into ash after too much resistance or too much time passed. She could manipulate and throw the shards which sometimes moved like spiked tentacles coming from her hand and also randomly out of thin air around the room. There was definitely something terrifying about seeing Asola use it, as if the things in the air infected her body and twisted her into something different. A couple of times while she was demonstrating Izuku had noted that the ash seemed to gather around her body and face as if it was flying toward her and trying to invade her. Must be why she referred to her defense state as a possession. She wasn't in control of it like that.

Izuku yawned and took a sip out of his teacup which was now filled to the brim with coffee. He knew it was getting late but didn't want to ruin the fun by checking his phone or the time. His mother would definitely have heard about what happened at Kacchans' by now and was either angry or depressed again. He didn't enjoy hurting her like this, but he wasn't sure what else he could do. He tossed the idea of leaving so he couldn't continue to hurt her around his head again but, had no idea where he could go or what he would do with himself. Maybe he needed to start making a plan to get out of her house and...then what? Part of him wanted to take this girl with him. In the few hours they'd spent together Izuku was starting to remember what fun and happiness felt like. He was still deeply angry and hurt, but these little moments of what was starting to feel like real friendship were making him feel a lot better. In the hours they had talked Izuku realized they had a kinship through all their also realized that she would make a powerful ally that he would need if he wanted to really change the world. He just needed her to understand him better. Understand herself better.

Shigaraki was acting strange. Not that he wasn't always sort of strange, but this was...moreso. Kurogiri shuffled around behind the bar and watched his boss pacing back and forth talking to himself. He did this often, but typically it was a bit more coherent. They'd stopped scouting outside the girls house about six hours ago and sent a scout to alert them when the boy left. He was supposed to follow the boy home and report the address as soon as he had it. Kurogiri assumed this was part of the problem, it had been six hours without any word whatsoever from their scout.

He knew his boss was the type to obsess over things and this quirk was no exception. When they had filled in Senesi on everything they saw today he was also quite interested which probably exacerbated the problem with Shigaraki quite a lot. His boss was obsessed with making Sensei proud and it seemed that getting control of this quirk was the newest symptom of that obsession. Which would be fine if they didn't have very important work to do.

""The Hero Killer is in Hosu." Kurogiri said to break the silence, "And I believe he would be a very valuable asset to our cause."

"Yes. I know." Tomura replied with a bit more bite than usual.

"I'd like to try to get a meeting with him sometime next week," Kurogiri answered without missing a beat, "I've got contacts that could pass along the message if you approve."

"Thursday would be best." Tomura answered while absentmindedly scratching at his neck, a sign that he was feeling angry or anxious.

Inko Midoriya was at the end of her rope. She had spent an entire year trying her best to be empathetic, to allow her son the time he needed to get his...shit together and act like the boy he used to be. Screaming about hating heroes and throwing a tantrum at her closest friends house? Starting a fight with his childhood friend? Injuring an innocent bystander who will now have to get herself a new job? These things she couldn't accept. And now it was nearly two in the morning and her son still hadn't found his way home. Or told her where he was going. A pang of fear shot through her as she wondered if he'd run away. She remembered a time when she would have never considered it for a second, but now she had no idea who that boy posing as her sweet son was.

Maybe this was her fault? He didn't have his father around to be the disciplinarian of the family. She thought that she was doing a good job on her own but look at the state of her family now, she had to do something. It was time to make that boy behave even if doing it broke her heart. Inko pulled herself off the couch and made her way into her sons room and found what she was looking for. _He'll get these back when he can behave again,_ she decreed to herself while gathering up all the notebooks on his desk and tossing them into an empty box on his floor. When a kid is bad you take away his toys.

Surely it would be fine.

Asola jolted awake in a shock and looked around dazed. She'd fallen asleep at her dining table and… yep the kid was still here. She took a moment to wipe her face with her hands and fumble around for her cell phone. _8:26 AM Shit._ Ok it was official, she let a little boy stay the night in her house without his parents permission. As if people didn't have a bad enough opinion of her. She took a moment to stretch her arms and legs before shoving the top of Midoriyas' head lightly with her fingers.

"Wake up, Kid." She said gently as she stood up to make more coffee for the two of them. He grumbled a bit and began to stir as she was finishing up the two cups, "Morning."

He made and indistinguishable noise and looked at her in a morning daze. She smiled and handed him a cup of coffee that he took and then stared at her wide eyed for a moment before looking away and blushing. _It's my first sleepover too kid,_ she thought to herself in jest.

"I should probably get you home." She wondered if the dread in her voice was as evident as she thought it was. She was not looking forward to walking the kid home to his parents and explaining what happened. But she was the adult here and it was her responsibility. He looked down into his cup for a moment and she was sure she knew the feeling. She wouldn't want to face her parents after an outburst like that either. No matter how good the points he was making were.

"I'll go alone." He said after a moment of silence, "It would be better that way."

It wasn't long before they had said their goodbyes and she was walking Midoriya to her door to let him out. They were going to meet up for lunch again sometime this week depending on the punishment he received when he got home. They had exchanged contact information and that would be it for now. He left in a rush and as soon as he was gone she felt a bit sad. It was nice having someone to talk to without secrets. The kid was very bright and he had really convinced her about a lot of the things he believed. She could definitely understand where he was coming from. _I'll find us allies, just sit tight and stay strong okay?_ She remembered the words he told her late last night and found strange comfort in them. Was she really putting her faith in a fifteen year old? Seemed to be the case. The kid knew how to make a plan that was for sure. And he was right, they were the only ones who saw the world for what it really was. It really was their responsibility to do something about it.

At least that was what she thought until later that evening when she received an email from Midoriya with a link to a bunch of little known information about the Hero Killer and the text: ' _I'll be out of touch for a little while, got into it with mom pretty badly. Can you look into this and maybe a way to contact? Could be an ally. Find you in a few days. Also maybe get in touch with that guy about the job, you shouldn't be home alone and sad. -M'_

Tomura Shigaraki almost got excited when his phone rang out with an update from his scout in the field. There wasn't much to it, just that the kid had left and arrived home safely. He took a moment to write down the address on a sheet of paper in front of him before he encouraged the man to finish the rest of the status report. Apparently the scout was waiting around the kids house for a moment and heard a lot of screaming. He wanted to know if he should stay for a bit or get out of there. He decided to have the man stick around for a bit just in case. Quirkless could be an asset to them and needed to be treated as such until he was no longer useful.

As soon as he'd been updated Tomura felt a huge weight lift off of his shoulders and felt like he could finally get back to focusing on his plan. They were nearly ready to start the next phase, they just needed to gather more allies first. That was where the Hero Killer Stain came into play. He had a great set of ideals that could easily rally people to their cause. He also had the strength and know how to be a true asset to them. These reasons were why Senesi had brought the man to his attention in the first place, yet something about him still rubbed Tomura the wrong way. He just wanted to kill All Might. Why did it have to be so difficult?

Izuku made his way home immediately after leaving Asolas' house. When he walked in he didn't bother to try and hide how messed up he looked hoping his mother would see him looking rough and go easy on him. No dice. He'd never seen his mother so upset before. She'd been crying and yelling at him for about twenty minutes before he just couldn't take it anymore. When he looked into his room and saw that she had taken all of his quirk notebooks, he flipped out on her, not that he was proud of it. It was almost like he blacked out in rage like he did the night of the sports festival, but instead of pointing his rage all over the place it was focused on his mother. How did she not understand those books were all he had left? Once things calmed down a little bit he found himself pacing around his room in anger. He needed to get out of here. It didn't take him long to find his notebooks hidden in a closet and he quickly packed them into a backpack along with a few other little things in another backpack and simply left the house without another word to his mother who was still crying in her bedroom. He couldn't believe he'd yelled at her. Said those horrible things to her. He realized all he would do if he stayed was continue to hurt her.

But where would he go? It wasn't like he had any friends left. Any bridges that weren't completely burned before were now that word had definitely gotten out about his outburst at Kacchans' house. Too many of his classmates were at the party for it not to be public knowledge by now. He didn't want to go back to Asolas' house because he'd only left a couple of hours ago and didn't want to continue to bother her. Instead he made his way down to the park near his house and settled into research on his phone about different villains.

When the sun started going down and his phone battery began to die Izuku shot Asola an email and decided it was time to figure out what he was going to do about sleep. He wasn't opposed to sleeping outside tonight, him and Kacchan had an old hideout not too far from here out in the woods that would provide plenty of protection from the elements. But it wasn't a permanent solution by any means. He'd also need to find a way to make some money. It was kind of hard for a young guy like him to get a job that paid any kind of decent wage, and he figured it wouldn't be long until his mother realized he was missing and got some kind of search going. He knew his best chances were working with shadier people, because even if they found out he was a teenage runaway they shouldn't care. How would he even go about doing that?

As he walked back to the place him and Kacchan used to play for hours before they became enemies Izuku paused and looked around again. He was sure he was being watched pretty much non stop since he'd gotten to Kacchans' house the other day. His nerves were shot and his patience was low so he decided to just call out and see if anyone was there.

"I can tell you're following me and I want to know why." Izuku said at a slightly raised volume. Not that it was likely that if someone was watching him they would reply. That would just be ridiculous.

"Sorry." The other voice called, "I was just worried about you. You're still wearing the same clothes as yesterday."

Izuku knew that voice. It was the man with the bar from the alley. As the man stepped out from behind the tree Izuku took a step back, unsure how to respond. The man straightened his clothes and took another step forward.

"I saw you in the park awhile back. I thought to myself, this kid had a freakout at a party yesterday and is still covered in blood at the park the next day. I should keep an eye on him just in case. I didn't mean to scare you."

"You didn't scare me." Izuku bit back, the man took a comical step back and put his hands up in surrender.

"Still," Shigaraki paused, "Are you about to sleep out here?" Izuku stilled at the question and Shigaraki had his answer. He let out a small sigh and took another step forward.

"You shouldn't sleep out here. There are all sorts of bad elements in this area lately." Tomura took a moment to try to recapture his concerned citizen character before giving up all together. This kid was smart and shared their ideas it seemed. Why beat around the bush with him? He could be an asset and the longer he let this little act string along the less trust the kid would have in him after he knew the truth. This was a dynamic Tomura knew all too well. He decided to cut to the chase.

Izuku watched the smiling face face seem to struggle for a moment before dropping its facade into a more sinister gaze. He prepared himself to run away from this guy at any moment but waited to hear what he was about to say.

"I'm just going to level with you, Kid. I have a proposition for you."

"I'm listening." Izuku replied instantly and without a thought.


	8. 8: The League

**Remember when I warned you it may get dark? This is the second warning, this isn't going to be sunshine and rainbows. People are going to die. This one is pretty long and I have a feeling the next will be long as well. We're really starting to get into things now so I'm pretty sure the plot is going to start moving a bit faster from here on out. Still open to any and all suggestions from you all especially when it comes to the UA/Hero side of things. I sure hope you all like this, because I'm getting really excited for the next arc.**

-8-

It had been five days since Inko Midoriya had seen her son. On Monday morning when she went to wake him up and talk after their fight the previous day she opened his door to find his already nearly barren room completely bare. The box she hid his notebooks in was laid on the floor of his room and his window was left wide open. He left. It was the work of a few minutes before the woman was out the door running to her friends house down the street. What were the chances Izuku had run to Katsukis' house after their fight? She couldn't imagine any other place he would have been, her son didn't have many friends .

When she arrived she was greeted by her very tired friend Mitsuki who seemed to wake up immediately after noticing the look on her friends face. Inko broke down in tears on the spot as if everything she had been holding in over the last year finally made its way to the surface. It wasn't long before Mitsuki got her calmed down and she explained the situation. They hadn't seen or heard from him either. This was her only lead, she had no idea where to look for Izuku if he wasn't here.

"I've got an idea where he might be," Katsuki said flatly , "I'll help you look for him."

Katsuki took her to a small hideout area hidden in the woods near the neighborhood park. As they walked there Katsuki explained to her that he and Izuku used to hide there all the time as kids. That they used to dream of running away to live there and be mountain men like they had read in their favorite stories. It seemed like a good lead and when they got there they noticed a few scraps of paper on the ground that looked like they had fallen out of someone's hands. She picked them up and they were definitely Izukus. She would recognize that strange shorthand from anywhere. And yet her son was nowhere to be found and Katsuki had to get going off to his internship.

When he didn't come home again that night Inko made the decision to get the police involved. It had been enough time and she was so worried about what could have happened to him out there. They told her that in situations like this the child usually returns home on his own and that there probably wouldn't be too much to worry about. Inko just went home and made some fliers to pass around the neighborhood. When the fourth day rolled around, Inko could no longer sit back. She demanded that the police do some investigating and to her surprise they had never stopped investigating. They had a lead that the boy had been spotted in the area by a black haired girl. Don't be too excited, Ma'am. People tend to link this girl to everything that goes wrong in the neighborhood.

But she was excited. She remembered her son mentioning while they were fighting that he'd just fallen asleep hanging out with a girl he met talking about quirks. This could be the girl. She told the police everything she remembered about what had been said and went back home to wait for their call. When they did call it wasn't good news.

I want you to spend at least two hours a day on physical training.

Shigarakis' words echoed through Izukus mind as he ran through the alleyways that surrounded their bar. Every morning he would sprint in a different direction. The goal was to get as physically fit as he possibly could as quickly as possible while also getting a good sense for the way the intricate alley system worked. It was littered with random stops, turns, and dead ends that could easily be used to lose a tail should he ever have one. The last thing he needed was to get spotted on the street and followed back to his new home. He'd noticed the posters with his face starting to show up in the area.

In the afternoons you will work on combat training with Kurogiri. We can't have you being useless in a fight.

Izuku had never fired a gun before, but the feeling was amazing. They gave him a pistol and told him it was his. When he had nothing to do at night he would pull it apart and clean it as a relaxation exercise. Kurogiri was a hell of a teacher too, it wasn't but a few hours of practice with it before they could move to more advanced techniques. They also worked on his knife work in case of close combat and Kurogiri promised that when they had someone on the team who was a bit better with hand to hand combat they would get him some lessons with that as well.

At night we sit down with your notes. Everytime we get a new member I want a full quirk analysis done on them. I also want you to devise strategies of optimal pairings for combat. Focus on UA teachers and students. Find the best combination for how to divide and conquer them.

This was the best part by far. Izuku had worried that that he wouldn't have much to offer an organization like this but he was very wrong. Shigaraki was completely infatuated with his notes and happy to show off his quirk for an analysis. It was the same with Kurogiri although the way that man looked over him reminded Izuku of his own father. Such a kind and gentle tone. They didn't make him translate his shorthand. Quite the contrary, Shigaraki said that it was best that he kept writing them in ways no one else could read just in case. They couldn't have the enemy getting this kind of intelligence. He had value here. It was an amazing feeling to have purpose and be working toward his goals. Although he had reservations about killing, Izuku was a smart enough kid to understand that the world never really changes through peace. Sometimes sacrifices had to be made for the greater good. Shigaraki made sure he understood that.

Welcome to the League of Villains. Now it's time to go get your friend.

It had been three days since Midoriya left her house and Asola couldn't get his ideas out of her head. Where would they even find allies to help them? She went yesterday to her old place of employment and picked up the remainder of her things. Her old boss was apologetic and offered her two weeks of severance which she accepted happily. He really was a good man and she knew if he had a choice he wouldn't have let her go. It was just too much of a liability. At least now she had some kind of cushion while she looked for further employment.

The rest of her time was spent looking for another job she wanted to find something she could do working from home. It was better if she stayed away from the general public to avoid anything like this happening to her again. In between applications Asola found herself opening the link that Midoriya had sent her and scrolling through posts online about the hero killer and random accounts where posters claimed they heard some of his 'teachings.' If they were true this guy would be a great ally for her and Midoriya, but how could she possibly get in touch with him.

She also found herself continually re-drafting an email to Shigaraki that she still hadn't sent. She wanted to at least thank him for his kindness and the offer of a job but she couldn't take advantage. She needed to do this on her own. As she was staring at the draft message hoping the perfect words would simply come to her she received another email from Midoriya.

'Pack a bag, I found us allies. Coming for you tonight at 8. -M'

Pack a bag? Why would she need to do that? Asola did what she was told but found herself the entire time asking why she was. This was a fifteen year old boy who was talking right now. There is no way he has gotten more done in this time than she had. She wondered if he'd talked to the Hero Killer already. Would a man like that even listen to the words of a boy that young? Somehow through all of her internal naysaying Asola got a bag packed with enough of her stuff to last through the weekend. She wasn't much for possessions anyway considering nearly everything she has ever owned had been vandalized at least once.

At 8pm exactly there was a knock on her door. Asola walked over and prepared to answer the door with some speech about how she wasn't going to run off on some crazy adventure and that she needed to be the adult and take care of this kid who was hurting. They could change the world when he was a little older. But as the door swung open her heart stopped and she forgot her entire grasp of language. Standing behind Midoriya was Shigaraki and the shadow man from the alley. She wanted to move her body or say anything at all but her only option was to stand and stare at the three of them with a stupid look of shock on her face.

Izuku smiled at the girl he would consider his friend and walked past her and into the apartment. She would need a second to process what was happening right now and he could understand. He took a look around and noticed that while there was definitely an effort made to clean up all the ash from their quirk analysis a couple of days ago, the room still kind of looked like a volcano would erupt at any minute. He may have been a little concerned that she wouldn't have actually packed a bag and was surprised to see a medium sized duffle on the floor next to her dining table. She really did respect him even though he was quirkless and young. What a treasure.

"Mind if we have a word?" Izuku said as the two men behind him filed into the apartment and closed the door behind them.

Inko was starting to lose hope. The police called her to inform her that when they got to the girls apartment the door was cracked open and there was a lot of disturbance outside so they went in to investigate. They found that the place had been essentially cleared out and was trashed. They also said there was a lot of debris around the room and it looked like there may have been some kind of struggle inside. The girl was missing and she had some kind of medication that she would definitely need left behind. They seemed to be acting like they thought it may have been a kidnapping. What had her son gotten himself into? Please just be alive, she begged her god as she laid on the floor of her sons room and wept.

Izuku had never felt so alive as he ran his friend Asola around the League of Villains base. He was surprised how little convincing it took to get her to follow him and Shigaraki into the portal back to the bar. She was on board and it felt amazing. Not only would he be their strategist, but he was helping the League with recruitment too. Shigaraki was proud of him and it made him swell with joy. Finally he wasn't useless.

Asola hadn't said much, but she didn't really need to. They made perfect sense as they told her of their plans to destroy hero society and kill All Might. And though some of this was a little bit much for her taste, she understood well enough that if she wasn't on board with their plan her lifespan would likely decrease significantly. She also realized that it was likely she would have ended up here either way. She was always going to send Shigaraki a message to thank him. And if he had his eyes on her power he would have lured her here one way or another. Some things are just fate, she mused as she settled her duffle bag on the bed of the small room they had given her and prepared to get some sleep. Training started tomorrow morning.

They wanted her to train her quirk. Shigaraki and Midoriya went over the notes he'd taken about her and believed that it had a lot more potential for power if she got more used to using it. It was the first time someone had wanted to see more of her quirk and it made her pretty excited. She would train her quirk while Midoriya did combat training with weapons nearby. They were still a pretty small operation, so she had to do a lot of her training without a partner. Though it seemed like during each one of her breaks either Midoriya or Kurogiri would have some note as to how she could improve. It was so impressive that the two of them could be in active mock combat with each other and have the ability to keep an eye on her progress. She had insisted that they allow her to work should she find a job, and they agreed which made a lot of her anxieties about working with them disappear. She wasn't going to sit around all day without pulling her weight especially after seeing how hard Midoriya was working for the League. It was funny how that kid seemed to inspire everyone around him with his tenacity.

This morning she found an interesting gig online for a call center. Essentially she would just have to take a call and record the customers answers onto the spreadsheet and send it back to the company for processing. Seemed easy enough and Kurogiri said the internet they had at the bar would be good enough to maintain a job like that. He also told her that it wouldn't be a bad idea to go onsite this evening an fill out an application in person. Apparently they had a guest coming later and he wasn't sure how well the man did around women. She understood and agreed to make herself scarce for a few hours later on while they did their business. With the Hero Killer. Holy crap what had she gotten into?

"So you want me to be a part of you crumbling little league?" The Hero Killer spat. It all happened so fast Izuku didn't know what to do. One second they were having what seemed like a normal conversation. He was to sit at the corner of the bar and take notes on the conversation and keep out of it. The next second the Hero Killer had cut Kurogiri and pinned Shigaraki on the ground.

"But you won't accomplish anything if you don't have conviction. And desire. Without those you'll always be an aimless weakling achieving nothing. That's how you got here." The Hero Killer continued. Izuku just noticed that Shigaraki had a blade shoved into his shoulder as he laid on the ground. Out of instinct his hand reached for his gun but Kurogiri shook his head subtly to stop him.

"Hey now, you're being a little rough, aren't you?" Shigaraki chuckled out, "Kurogiri take this guy back."

"I'm sorry," Kurogiri answered, "I can't move. It must be the Hero Killers quirk at work."

Izuku moved to take note of this. Did it have something to do with the cut? His blades maybe cause people to freeze. He wrote his theories as the conversation continued. No conviction? This man had no idea what he was talking about. Izuku had plenty of conviction.

"The word hero has lost all meaning in this society, the world is overrun with fakes and criminals like you who chase petty dreams. They must all be purged." The Hero Killer said as he moved his second blade to strike Shigaraki. Izuku dropped his pen and reached immediately for his gun but stopped when he noticed Shigaraki grabbing the blade with his quirk hand.

"What do you think you're doing? If you touch this palm, I'll kill you." Shigaraki said as the blade started to turn to dust before the Hero Killers eyes, "You sure talk a lot, Hero Killer. Conviction? Maybe I don't have anything as loaded as that. If I had to choose a desire though, yeah, it'd be killing All Might. If this world wants to worship trash like him I'll destroy their beloved Symbol of Peace and then crush them while their in shock."

Shigarakis' hand swiped for the Hero Killer and he jumped off of Shigaraki who stood back up and straightened himself. The two men faced each other for a beat before the boss continued.

"The last of my injuries was just about to finish healing and now this," He held his arm out as a bit of blood trickled down from his shoulder, his other hand scratching compulsively at his neck, "You should learn not to play with knives, we don't have a healer in our party you know."

"I see your nature, it seems our goals fundamentally oppose each other. However, this wasn't in vain. We agree that we need to destroy the present. " He replied.

"I'm over this. Leave. Drop dead. I'm the kind of person you hate most, right?" Shigaraki was getting tired of this conversation Midoriya could tell. What he didn't understand was why he boss wasn't getting angry. The Hero Killer had no idea what he was talking about.

"I was testing your motives. People always show their true colors when on the verge of death. It's abnormal, but there is desire, a warped sprout of conviction inside of you. How will it-"

"You're wrong." Izuku said as he stood up. He couldn't take it anymore. How did this man not understand what they were trying to do. "You say we don't have conviction? You don't know the first thing about us."

It was like all the adults remembered that he was in the room which irritated Izuku to no end. Here they were babbling about semantics when there was a much bigger problem going on. Were all adults so dense?

"Who are you?" The Hero Killer said turning toward him and locking eyes. He seemed taken aback for a second but continued to hold Izukus' gaze.

"I'm the Strategist." He answered, "And you're a fool. You think just because our first priority is to kill All Might we don't have a sense of purpose? I have more conviction than you. This society is a flawed cesspool infected and festering. And the Symbol of Peace is the source. You want to root out an infection you have to cut out the source first. Then you can get to treating the rest of the problem. You're too stuck on the flawed belief that All Might is a real hero. You couldn't be more wrong. He may have used to be a hero, but he is just as twisted and corrupt as the rest of them now." By the time he finished Izuku had squeezed the pen in his hand so hard it had burst and his fist was dripping red ink and blood. All the adults just stared at him im shock.

It actually worked. They got the Hero Killer to agree to a truce of some sort. Kurogiri knew the only reason it all worked out was the kid. He seemed to be a great balance for Shigarakis tendencies to make people, well, loathe him. The boss seemed a little irritated that the kid spoke up when he wasn't supposed to but Kurogiri knew that deep down the boss was proud of his new recruit. He knew this because the kid was still alive and had actually been invited along to Hosu City to watch the Hero Killer in action. Part of him wondered if Shigaraki had any other tricks up his sleeve, as he asked Sensei for a couple of Nomus to wreak havoc on the city. This couldn't just be about gathering notes on the Hero Killers movements and quirk.

He left a note for the girl to let her know they would be home late and not to concern herself with their absence. It was strange to have people in their group now that they would need to keep in contact with. He tossed around the idea of having some kind if communication system set up between the group of them. He also took a moment to personally check in with Sensei as sometime he was told things that even Shigaraki didn't know about. It was the best way to deal with Tomura, he was very childlike in a lot of ways which Sensei decided to combat by using him as a median for some tasks. It was great to be of service. Sensei didn't have much to say outside of a few comments about the new recruits and a request to keep special tabs on Asola. She was considered to be still a wild card. Izuku on the other hand?

He was ready for his initiation.


	9. 9: Initiation

**Sorry my update was slow this time. This one was really hard to write. Thanks for all the reviews they mean a whole lot to me! There was a lot that I wasn't sure how to approach but I just don't see it ending any other way. In lighter news, I got engaged! I'll keep this short. Remember you've been warned!**

-9-

It was great to feel of use.

Asola wandered the labyrinth of alleys toward the bar all the while swelling with pride. Not only had she gotten the job, but because of her qualifications from when she was still in school she had actually gotten a position a bit higher up. How convenient that she already had her background check done a couple of weeks ago for her old job. After a brief training period she would be working with the number hero insurance agency. She would be able to gain access to all sorts of personal information for the heroes that reported in to her. It was just a waiting game until she had their home addresses. _Shigaraki will be so pleased_ , she thought to herself before stopping that train of thought in its tracks. No need for all that.

She was getting much better at navigating her way here. Midoriya was right that she needed to be training her ability to take in all of her surroundings as well as her body. It was astounding they ways in which that kid inspires everyone around him. Just in the little time that they had been staying here everyone in the league that trained anywhere near him was inspired. He is such an asset, and she was excited to be one as well. Asola hummed with excitement as she turned the handle to the bar and it opened to reveal that no one was home. It made her sad for a moment, but seeing that Kurogiri left her a note filled her with a strange warmth. This was probably what it was like to have a family. Or close friends. Neither of which she had much experience with.

With a sigh, she decided to try to find the router to set up her laptop on the internet for work. Wifi wasn't going to work and Kurogiri told her it wouldn't be a problem to set her up in the bar office for a few hours a day to get her work done. After setting her bag down on the bar and pulling out her laptop, Asola twisted the handle to the office and creaked it open slowly. She'd never been in here before.

It took her a second to find the light switch but as she flipped it the office was revealed to be completely normal. There was a long desk stretched across the far wall. It had a desktop computer attached with the screensaver currently running. There were papers and files in assorted piles around, and the router setting atop a small printer blinking familiarly. She scooter some files to the side and sat down her laptop and started running a wire from the router and plugged it in. The process jiggled the mouse of the desktop and the sudden change made her jump and squeak a little before chuckling at herself and continuing with her work. She didn't look at the screen on principal. That was Shigarakis' computer and whatever he left up on the screen was not her business. She made a point to turn away from his desktop screen while settling into the chair and fiddling with her laptop, all the while mumbling to herself.

" _Stupid computer...you need to cooperate, I cannot afford to replace you.. C'mon what good are you if your helpless and broken..cut me some slack-_ " A sudden noise cut off her mumbling.

"You must be Asola." The disembodied voice made her jump and actually scream this time while looking around frantically.

"What?!" It took a moment for her to realize it was coming from Shigarakis' computer, she turned and saw a mask moving slightly, "Oh, I'm sorry… I.. didn't know you were...in here?"

"It's quite alright. We were going to meet eventually." All for One responded plainly.

There was something about watching explosions from the rooftop with Shigaraki that made Izuku feel alive. Up until this moment there was a part of him that was worried he wouldn't have the stomach to be a villain, but those doubts had drifted away in the sea of chaos before them. His eyes broke away from the scene for a moment to look at Shigaraki who was also focused ahead. He looked slightly annoyed in that way he always did, but Izuku could tell he was happy. They were working with the Hero Killer and Kurogiri said it was all thanks to him.

Now they just had to keep track of the guy, which was proving a bit more difficult than expected. Shigaraki wanted him to watch the Hero Killer attack whoever his target was tonight, but he seemed to have left them behind. Izuku could understand, he didn't seem happy about Shigaraki wanting to bring the Nomu along to the city, but his boss always got what he wanted and brought them along anyway. This temporary truce may be just that regardless of his own intervention. Those two men just didn't seem to be able to get along well enough to work together.

Izuku spotted a glimpse of the pro hero Native in the alleyway and he knew immediately that was where the Hero Killer had to be. Izuku nudged Shigaraki a bit and motioned over to the fight. Shigaraki didn't show any appreciation other then a glance his way before turning his attention toward one of his Nomu in the distance.

"You can get good notes from here?" Shigaraki stated in a voice that reminded Izuku of his old athletics coach. It wasn't a question and Izuku walked to a place where he could get a better view. The Hero Killer was incredible and Native was done for. It looked like one scratch was all it took and then the hero was stunned in place. Izuku huffed, that wasn't enough information. How was he supposed to show his worth after gaining absolutely no new information on the Hero Killer. This wouldn't do.

"Can I go down there?" Izuku asked.

"Got Quirkless?" Kurogiri questioned.

"Yes." Izuku answered with enthusiasm while tapping it lightly. Kurogiri opened a portal without another word and right before Izuku disappeared though it Shigaraki patted his shoulder and whispered something in his ear that sent chills down his spine. So this was it, he knew something like this had to be coming eventually but he figured he'd have more time. It wasn't a request. It was an order.

"Don't hesitate to use it, Midoriya."

"A child wearing a suit?" The Hero Killer questioned. Izuku stopped in his tracks and ducked behind the dumpster at the end of the alley to listen. Any information he can get about this man will be useful for the league. Izuku listened intently as the conversation continued. "Who are you?"

"I am the brother of an incredible hero who you attacked!" The kid answered as he struggled to stand up, "He's the best older brother anyone could hope for. I have come to stop you, because he can't anymore." He slammed his fist to his chest, Izuku knew he looked familiar but couldn't get a good look at his face, "You're going to remember my name for as long as you live! I am Ingenium and I will defeat you! That I will promise!"

"Then so be it. Die." The Hero Killer responded plainly. Izuku shifted to try to get a better look at the scene in time to see the kid propel forward and screaming something Izuku didn't hear well. The Hero Killer dodged it easily and kicked him in the side. Izuku thought he may have said something but he couldn't hear. Being this far away from the action was a pain, but he was worried the Hero Killer would hold back if he knew he was being watched.

"You're a weakling, just like he was." It happened so fast. The boy was down on the ground and the Hero Killer had his blade through his shoulder. Izuku still couldn't tell what the guys quirk was but his physical abilities were off the charts. He couldn't wait for a proper opportunity to analyze him. Hopefully he would get the chance once all this business was finished.

"You aren't heroes, you have no right to be called that. Both of you are nothing but fakes." That got Izuku listening he turned his body so he could peek a bit more out from behind the dumpster to see. The kids head was in full view and Izuku finally remember where he knew him from. This was the kid from class 1A with Kacchan. Looks like they are all turning out to be a bad bunch. The thoughts got his blood boiling.

"...paralyzed him from the waist down…" It was hard to hear what 1A kid was saying and Izuku has lost interest. This was one of Kacchans' friends. The thought made him sick as he listened to the kid monologue about his brother until he finished "...I'LL KILL YOU!"

"Shouldn't you be worried about saving that guy?" The Hero Killer stated while pointing at Native struggling on the ground. Izuku smiled widely. The Hero Killer was right and it made him so happy. He knew he was on the right path, look at the state of the Pro heroes? And now even the students are kids like this one and Kacchan. They needed to be eliminated. "So busy with your grudge you forgot about him. You plan on using your quirk only for yourself. Completely blinded by a selfish desire for revenge. You're about as far away from being a hero as I can imagine. And that's why you'll die tonight."

The Hero Killer licked his blade and 1A kid could no longer move. _Got him._ Izuku thought as he finally got a grasp on his quirk. He knew it wasn't just about the cut, if it was that simple he wouldn't need to be so good with his swords. This man just keeps getting more interesting by the second. Izuku pulled out his notebook and began scribbling notes while also trying to keep an eye on the scene ahead. The Hero Killer was going to kill that kid and then move on to Native. Maybe once he is finished he'll be willing to talk about his quirk some! The excitement got Izuku mumbling to himself and before he knew it he'd blown his cover and halted the execution.

"What are you doing here?" The Hero Killer questioned. The boy on the ground tried to plead with Izuku to run away or something and Native stayed strangely quiet as if he could tell they knew each other.

"Sorry," Izuku chuckled lightly while standing up and scratching his head nervously, "I didn't mean to interrupt. Your speech was really good, I was taking notes."

"Notes?" The Hero Killer looked at the notebook in his hand and sighed. He was about to continue further before the kid on the ground interrupted again, urging Midoriya to run away from this villain and get to safety.

"It's people like you I should be worried about." Izuku spat hatefully at the boy on the ground before turning back to the Hero Killer, "I'm sorry I interrupted. Please continue." The fact that he was going to continue to take notes was implied.

The Hero Killer returned to the kid on the ground and made one last speech before raising his blade to strike. _He really loves speeches,_ Izuku added to his notes musingly before noticing that Native was starting to move behind the Hero Killer.

It all happened in a flash.

Before Izuku could say a word Native had broken free of the Hero Killers quirk and was sneaking up behind him in a flash. The boy on the ground was looking up, his face twisted in fear and anger before noticing the movement of the Pro and relaxing a little. The Hero Killer raised his sword and finished the kid on the ground quickly, preparing his second blade to counter the attack from Native. But his sword never made contact. Instead Native fell backward onto the onto the pavement with a bullet hole dead center of forehead. Izuku continued to hold Quirkless still smoking from being fired.


End file.
